Jan 11, 2003

Box Score

DAVIDSON, N.C. - After missing three games with a sprained ankle, Western Carolina sophomore Kevin Martin returned to action and scored 26 points off the bench. However, Davidson went on a late run on Saturday afternoon to defeat the Catamounts, 83-66, at Belk Arena.

Davidson (8-4 overall, 2-0 SoCon) finished the game shooting 54 percent field, and 57 percent from three-point land with 13 baskets from long range, while Western fell to 4-9 and 1-1.

Wildcat senior Wayne Bernard netted 24 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor, plus dished out six assists. Classmate Peter Anderer scored 19 points, was 4-of-6 from downtown and hitting all five attempts from the charity stripe.

Both teams had incredible performances from the field in the first half, giving way to a tie game at 44 apiece at the break. Opening the final 20 minutes, Western Carolina pulled out first, scoring seven points to the Wildcats' two.

But Davidson was not going down easy. Freshmen Ian Johnson and Brendan Winters connected on 3-pointers on consecutive trips down the floor. Combined with a steal and lay-up by Bernard, the Wildcats were back on top by one with 15 minutes to play, and back on top was where they would stay. The Catamounts managed to tie the game only once more with 11:46 to play, but hit just 3-of-16 shots for the remainder of the game.

The Wildcats took advantage of the Catamount shooting woes, connecting on eight of their last 14 attempts and hurting WCU with the 3-point shot. Davidson used a 14-2 run over a five-minute span to put the game out of reach and take home the 83-66 victory.

The first half featured a Bernard versus Martin show. Both scored almost half of his team's points, with Martin netting 20 and Bernard 19. The half featured seven lead changes and seven ties. A Matt McKillop trifecta with 8:35 remaining in the first half started a 10-0 Davidson run that gave the Wildcats a nine-point advantage. After cutting the lead to six, the Catamounts used back-to-back 3-pointers, one by Martin and another by Alex Osipovitch, in the last minute of the half to tie the game heading into the locker rooms.

Johnson and senior Michel Lusakueno also scored in double figures for the Wildcats. Lusakueno netted 10 points and contributed a game-high nine rebounds. Johnson had 17 points and seven boards.

The 54.0 shooting percentage was Davidson's best performance against a Division I opponent this year. Davidson also shot 94.1 percent from the foul line, missing its lone free throw late in the game.

Rans Brempong added seven rebounds and two blockes shots for the Catamounts. Osipovitch and James Johnson helped the solid first half performance. Osipovitch was 2-of-3 from 3-point range, while Johnson dished out four assists.

Western Carolina has just one day off before heading to Furman to battle the Paladins on Monday at 7 p.m.